Yankees' big spending won't necessarily pay off

Sunday

Dec 28, 2008 at 2:00 AM

Impatience rarely is rewarded in baseball.

Phil Rogers

Impatience rarely is rewarded in baseball.

It happens, sure. The World Series the infant franchises in Florida (1997) and Arizona (2001) won come to mind. But there have been a lot more spectacular failures than successes from teams that spend heavily to get themselves to the top.

Think of the White Sox in the Albert Belle-Frank Thomas years. The Dodgers with guys like Kevin Brown and Darren Dreifort. The Mets in the era of Pedro Martinez, Carlos Beltran and Carlos Delgado.

The Tigers of the last two years, when they added Gary Sheffield, Miguel Cabrera and Dontrelle Willis to the mix that had won a pennant in 2006. Even the Cubs, who are yet to get a playoff victory from the purchase of Alfonso Soriano, Ted Lilly, Jason Marquis, Kosuke Fukudome and Mark DeRosa.

The teams that have sustained success in the last two decades were built around players who blossomed into stars during the process: the Braves of the 1990s; the Yankees when they won four World Series in five years; the Indians of Kenny Lofton, Sandy Alomar, Manny Ramirez and Jim Thome; the Cardinals in Albert Pujols' first six seasons; the Angels of the last seven seasons; and the Jason Varitek-Nomar Garciaparra-David Ortiz Red Sox.

None of the great teams ever really have been purchased, but the Yankees of 2009-11 now are poised to become the first.

It's true the Yankees still have stars they developed in Derek Jeter, Jorge Posada and Mariano Rivera. But after committing $796 million to elite free agents with an average age of 32.4 years the last two years — retaining Alex Rodriguez, Posada and Rivera while adding Mark Teixeira, CC Sabathia and A.J. Burnett — there's little comparison to the franchise that won with guys like Bernie Williams, Paul O'Neill, Scott Brosius and a young Andy Pettitte.

With a new, heavily subsidized — and possibly criminally financed stadium (someone could go to jail over the inflated appraisal of the land) — the Yankees conduct business as if they live in a booming economy. Their fans are thrilled; fans of the other 29 teams, not so much.

The meter is still running, of course. But as of Christmas, the Yankees had outspent the other 29 teams in free agency this winter — $423.5 million to $296.6 million. That's staggering.

Will it work? We won't know until next October, and history suggests the odds are against a team built around the superbly talented, minimally impactful Rodriguez and Teixeira.

Reggie Jackson thrived as "the straw that stirs the drink" in another era. He didn't care if he looked selfish, he wanted to win; and his teams played loose enough to win the big games (11 of 17 postseason series with the A's, Yankees and Angels, including four of five World Series).

Rodriguez (especially) and Teixeira seem to want it both ways. The skills that put them in the middle of the lineup, as well as their paychecks, suggest they should be leaders, but they never have led their franchises. Rodriguez seems to want to be Jeter — a regular guy who drives in runs as he helps little old ladies across the street — and Teixeira seemingly just wants to be left alone.

Imagine the contract Teixeira would have gotten if he ever had done anything except put up stats. After all, this is a star who in his first six seasons never has been higher than seventh in MVP voting.

Between them, Rodriguez and Teixeira have played in 11 postseason series. Their teams are a combined 22-29, advancing to the next round only three times.

Sabathia's teams have won one of his four postseason series. Burnett never has played in the postseason (he was hurt when Florida won in 2003).

For what it's worth, the Yankees haven't said they are done spending. Why not still add Manny Ramirez?

He's like Jackson — a pain who delivers when it counts.

January is going to be a very intriguing month.

With many teams reducing payroll and 29 worrying about the effect of the economy on their sponsorships and sales, there were 159 free agents who did not have new contracts in their Christmas stockings.

Dunn, who has hit 40-plus homers in five consecutive seasons, is trying to convince the Cubs to sign him for the right-field vacancy, instead of the equally defensively challenged Bradley. Dunn's high strikeout totals and career .247 batting average argue against him being the guy to break up the right-handed bats in the middle of the Cubs' lineup.

With so many players still unsigned, it's premature to reach any conclusions about the 2009 landscape. But the off-season trend suggests even better competition, as none of the eight teams that advanced to the playoffs in '08 have taken on-paper steps forward.

Among the likely contenders, the Yankees and Mets (maybe Atlanta) clearly have improved. Meanwhile the most significant player added by the eight playoff teams is Raul Ibanez, who replaced free agent Burrell as Philadelphia's leftfielder.

The ball is squarely in the Red Sox' court after the Yankees' signing of Mark Teixeira. Boston remains in a standoff with agent Scott Boras regarding unsigned catcher Jason Varitek and there's not another attractive free-agent option behind him. That could push Boston to step up its efforts to acquire Jarrod Saltalamacchia from Texas, at the cost of a young pitcher like Justin Masterson or Michael Bowden. ... Teixeira's signing with the Yankees means that the Angels, not the Brewers, will get the Yankees' first-round pick in the 2009 draft, a development that disappoints Milwaukee GM Doug Melvin. He points out that the Brewers have "dropped 46 slots in the draft, and will be dropping even more" as other ranked free agents sign. Don't be surprised if Melvin is motivated sufficiently to push for changes in the antiquated system of free-agent compensation, which follows Elias Sports Bureau player rankings over a two-year period. ... Here's our unofficial team of winter league standouts: C Max Ramirez (Rangers), 1B Jorge Vazquez (Yankees), 2B Eider Torres (White Sox), SS Erick Aybar (Angels), 3B Jesus Guzman (Nationals), OF Victor Diaz (free agent), OF Pablo Ozuna (Dodgers), OF Fernando Martinez (Mets), UTIL Jake Fox (Cubs), SP Ian Kennedy (Yankees), SP Carlos Carrasco (Phillies), SP David Austen (Angels), RP Jonathan Abaladejo (Yankees), and RP Jose Mijares (Twins). ... Torres, who turns 26 next month, could be an excellent under-the-radar pickup by the White Sox. The switch-hitter batted .307 with 28 stolen bases in Triple A last season but didn't get a look with the Orioles. He is behind Chris Getz, Jayson Nix and Brent Lillibridge but could catch Ozzie Guillen's eye. He's leading the Venezuelan League with 15 steals while batting .278 ... The Yankees signed Vazquez, a perennial Mexican League All-Star, to a minor-league deal earlier this winter. ... How slowly is the free-agent market coming together? The Cubs have yet to sign a backup catcher, with Paul Bako still believed to be at the top of their list.

Advertise

Original content available for non-commercial use under a Creative Commons license, except where noted.
seacoastonline.com ~ 111 New Hampshire Ave., Portsmouth, NH 03801 ~ Privacy Policy ~ Terms Of Service